"It's jarring, and it's an emotional thing," said Yana Zhuravel, a Brooklyn lawyer whose grandparents' headstones at Washington Cemetery in Midwood, Brooklyn, were among those knocked over.

"Clearly, nobody came with the intention of doing this, I'm sure," said Zhuravel. "But when an accident happens of this caliber, you expect some form of accountability."

"We were devastated," said cemetery manager Marisa Tarantino.

Workers believe the snow was dumped sometime over the New Year's holiday, Tarantino said.

The cemetery is closed on Saturday. Workers noticed the knocked-over gravestones when the cemetery opened at 8 a.m. Sunday, Tarantino said.

Sanitation officials sent an employee to look into the matter, and the cemetery plans to file a claim with the city. Some people who heard of the devastation stopped by the cemetery yesterday to check on their relatives' graves.

"Ours is good," said Oscar Daych, 76, whose mother-in-law is buried there. "But this is unbelievable. It's terrible. We don't know what to say."

The snow-clearing crews also buried several vehicles parked next to the cemetery on Bay Parkway.